Massage Therapy Clinic at Illichevsk
Mark Koehler's vision of a Massage Therapy Clinic for children with physical disabilities became a reality in March 2004. Children with physical disabilities often don't get the rehabilitation services that would improve their condition, partly because professionals have not been trained and encouraged to work with this population.
Sadly, it is the children of families with limited incomes who are the least likely to have access to services that are available. The goal of Mission Ukraine Children's Hope in establishing the clinic is to demonstrate the success that can be achieved when basic services are provided, and to become the catalyst for the community to respond to the need.
The Massage Therapy Clinic provides massage therapy to stimulate nerve impulses that will encourage growth and strength of weak muscles. The clinic began with four children and a therapist. Over the next year, 35 children will receive therapy from two therapists; 40 children are on the waiting list. The clinic is conducted at the local day hospital, which offered a room at no charge. MUCH refurbished the room and purchased basic equipment. The children are referred by two organizations of parents of children with disabilities, Little Star and House of Hearts.
The success stories are heartening. A ten-year-old child spoke his first word, "Mama," after four treatments. His seizures were reduced and drooling eliminated. A child, who could only drag himself across the floor, now crawls, can stand briefly and take a few steps with assistance. A child smiles for the first time and makes her first efforts to say words. In most cases, the progress is slow, but each success brightens not only the child's life, but that of his or her whole family.
As a result of a contact that Mark made with Joni Eareckson Tada's Wheels for the World, their team brought pediatric wheelchairs to Illichevsk. Eight children from the Massage Therapy Clinic were fitted with wheelchairs, including one ten-year-old whose mother had carried him everywhere. We are currently working to bring donated wheelchairs and walkers from Poland.
The directors of the two parent organizations and families whose children receive services through the Massage Therapy Clinic often express their gratitude to our translator, Ira. She wrote, "They ask me to pass "thank you" to Mark and his team in America. It isn't only words, because I see the light in their eyes."
Read Letter of Appreciation from manager of House of Hearts.